Hunter in Boulder County kills moose mistaken for an elk

By Charlie Brennan

Daily-Camera

Posted:
10/30/2017 10:15:46 AM MDT

Moose, such as this pair spotted by Boulder County's Mud Lake in 2013, are more likely to be seen in riparian environments, whereas elk more typically favor open meadows and dark timber. An elk hunter mistakenly killed a moose on Saturday near the Beaver Creek Trail in the Arapaho National Forest. (Jeremy Papasso / Staff Photographer)

Only 13 tags were issued this year for hunters hoping to take a moose in the expansive game management areas that include Boulder County, but on Saturday, a cow moose was killed by a hunter who mistook it for an elk.

Colorado Parks & Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said that the hunter, whom she described as "newer" to the sport and a graduate of the University of Colorado, self-reported the episode.

"This person self-reported," Churchill said. "We really appreciate that. It's really ethical and that's the way we expect hunters to respond in a situation like that."

The moose was killed at about 8:45 a.m. Saturday near the Beaver Creek Trail in the Arapaho Roosevelt Forest.

Following Colorado Parks & Wildlife hunter education guidelines, Churchill said, "He field-dressed the animal to preserve the meat, tagged the animal so that others would note he was dealing with it and hiked the 3 1/2 miles out to self-report," she said. "He contacted Boulder County, which contacted the CPW on-call officer, who drove down and met with the hunter around 12:30 p.m."

The wildlife officer wrote a summons for careless hunting, and the hunter, who has not been identified by CPW, will have to go to court and face a fine that could range from $100 to $1,000, and will have up to 20 points assessed against his state hunting license.

Advertisement

The rifle season for moose in Colorado ran from Oct. 1 to Oct. 14. According to Churchill, CPW issued the following licenses for moose in the two game management areas that are inclusive of all Boulder County, and portions of Larimer, Jefferson and Gilpin counties: four for antlered moose taken by a state resident, seven for an antlerless moose by a state resident and two for an antlerless moose taken by a non-Colorado resident.

Churchill said incidents such as Saturday's mishap are not uncommon on Colorado's Western Slope, but with moose becoming more numerous in western Boulder County, hunters and other outdoor recreationalists on this side of the Continental Divide also need to be aware that they might encounter moose where in years before they might not have.

A CPW video on telling moose and elk apart from one another states that 10 or more moose are killed each year in Colorado by hunters who pull the trigger on a moose that was mistaken for an elk — despite several distinguishing features, including the two animals' difference in appearance and preferred habitats.

"It's about making sure you know exactly what you're shooting at," Churchill said. "Observe the animal, make sure the head isn't down when they take their shot. Sometimes, people get excited that they are hunting, and once they get an animal in a location and they think everything is going well, they get in front of that excitement and take a shot.

"Take a breath, take your time and make sure you know what the animal is."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.